|30-10-2012

Language Diversity and the Problem of English

Nanna H Hilton n.h.hilton@rug.nl

Goffe Jensma g.t.jensma@rug.nl

Frans Zwarts frans.zwarts@ucf.nl

1

|30-10-2012

University of Groningen (UG)In sum International

597 million yearly turnover

> 5000 FTE staff

> 2000 FTE academic staff > 20% international academic staff

10 Faculties

30000 students 3750 students

1100 exchange students

49 bachelor's programmes 19 bachelor's programmes (39%)

146 master's degrees 101 master’s degrees (70%)

1500 PhD students 800 Phd students (53%)

2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Groningen#cite_note-2

|30-10-2012 3

The Province of Fryslân (NL)› 650.000 Inhabitants

› Frisian language proficiency (2011):

Understand: 85%

Speak: 64%

Read: 75%

Write: 12%

› Official language in the Netherlands

› Protected at level 2 of CRML

› Protected through ratification of Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities

› Shift in provincial policies to a multilingualism paradigm

› UCF: academic network organisation

3

Source: TUBS, Wikipedia Commons

|30-10-2012 44

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlvZ47AJSH8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlvZ47AJSH8

|30-10-2012

|30-10-2012 6

Identity, but also a tool › Language has emotional and social value; is a marker of personal

and social identity (cf. Grin & Vaillancourt, 1997; Labov 2001)

› However, a dominant ideology for language learning is that a language should be a tool - cf. instrumentalism of language(Robichaud & de Schutter, 2012)

› The adoption of more current languages may increase the chances of education and employment. The many social dilemmas facing small language communities can only be understood within the encompassing anthropological context (De Swaan, 2004)

6

|30-10-2012 7

Identity, but also a tool › Ammon (2012a):

‘English has continuously gained ground […]. There must, therefore, be forces at work beyond the control of EU language policy. They apparently come from outside the EU: from the global context, in which the EU is tied up in its communication, i.e. the forces of ‘globalization’ to use a catchword’

› University language policies are also tied up to the global market and are made to a large extent independent of Europe and national language policies

- i.e. English

7

|30-10-2012 8

UG Language Policy (1)› Dual plus: Dutch plus English as Medium of Instruction (EMI),

fostering individual multilingualism and enhancing linguistic and cultural diversity and awareness

› European Commission, Rethinking education: investing in skills for better socio-economic outcomes. Strasbourg: COM (2012) 669

› K. M. Lauridsen, Higher education language policy: report of the CEL/ELC Working Group. In: European Journal of Language Policy 5 (2013), 128-138

8

|30-10-2012 9

UG Language Policy (2)› Reasons for adopting a new language policy:

Language competences are important for reasons of competitiveness, employability, and mobility

To become a truly international university linguistic and cultural barriers must be removed and inclusiveness promoted

To cope with negative national demographic trends after 2020, universities in the Netherlands must strengthen their international position

M. Kelly, Language competences for employability, mobility and growth. In: European Journal of Language Policy 5 (2013)

9

|30-10-2012 10

UG Language Policy (3)

› Reasons for adopting a new language policy:

› Lauridsen: ‘It has become apparent that teaching difficulties are not simply a question of language but are rooted in profound cultural differences. Even in Britain, universities need to address the fact that they can’t just teach in English the way they teach native speakers’

10

|30-10-2012 11

Different to other LPPs?› Nordic universities: also (partly) English:

Nordic languages in academia: no complete domain loss; English facilitates participation in global scientific community (Linn & Oakes, 2007; Haarman & Holman, 2001)

National languages are still used throughout the system (in teaching, publishing and even PhD theses)

› UG Language policy: promotes as much teaching in English as possible

Hence English becomes more instrumental than the national language

In practice universities are not maintaining language diversity but English only

11

|30-10-2012 12

The Local Problem of English› Ammon (2012b): predominance of English skews scientific

development and excludes other approaches to science

› English proficiency used as admissions criteria, but is not a reflection of academic talent

› Admissions are based on IELTS and TOEFL scores (administered by Cambridge English Language Assessment/British Council and Educational Testing Service)

Tests created by UK and US native speakers

Upholds British and American dominance of EFL market (cf. Grin, 2005:9)

12

|30-10-2012 13

The National Problem of English

Dutch teens who want to study successfully at Dutch universities must be very proficient in English

Implication: People believe the best way of ensuring this is to go to an English-spoken high school.

Possible result: English is no longer only the language of the domain of Dutch academia, but increasingly of the domain of Dutch education as a whole.

13

|30-10-2012 14

The European Problem of English

14

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%“L2 speakers who can hold a conversation in English”

Graph made with data from Special Eurobarometer 386 (2012)

|30-10-2012

Three approaches to tackling the problem1. Support bilingual or trilingual secondary schooling

2. Support language technology through META-NET

3. Support research and facilities for receptive bilingualism

15

|30-10-2012 16

Tackling the problem - 1› Educational systems uphold national standard languages

The Dutch education system may end up upholding a notion that English is the most important language

› Advice:

Support multilingual instead of English-taught, or “international”, (secondary) education

- This will create notion of instrumentality to more languages

- Maintain concept of territorialism for education (Nelde et al., 1992; Williams, 2012)

16

|30-10-2012 17

Trilingual Schools in Fryslân› Primary schools: Dutch, Frisian and English as Medium of

Instruction

40% Dutch, 40% Frisian and 20% English.

Van Ruijven, E.C.M. van en J. Ytsma (2008): Pupils in trilingual schools are better off.

› BA Minorities & Multilingualism

› MA Multilingualism

17

|30-10-2012 18

Tackling the problem - 2

18

|30-10-2012 19

Tackling the problem - 2

› Instrumentalism = “useful” in technology!

Follow META-NET´s suggestions (Rehm & Uszkoreit, 2012)

- Need for “policy making such as regulations supporting the multilingual setup of our society and the effective utilisation of language data for research and technology development”

- If done appropriately: “Europeans will be able to communicate with one another, with their governments and with web services in their native mother tongue”

=> Will lead to validation of sustained use in education

=> Will facilitate translation of different scientific approaches

19

http://www.meta-net.eu/sra/key-messages

|30-10-2012 20

Tackling the problem - 3

20

|30-10-2012 21

|30-10-2012 22

Tackling the problem - 3› Education and other domains can make more of receptive

bilingualism

Instead of relying on lingua francas (i.e. English) make use of closely related languages

› Research in North Germanic, West Germanic and Finno-Ugric language areas indicate this is truly a viable option (Gooskens, 2007; Ribbert & ten Thije, 2007; Verschik, 2012)

› Also holds true for the political domain: e.g. the Nordic council

22

|30-10-2012 23

Conclusion

› These three recommendations complement one another

1. Multilingual education

2. Language technology

3. Receptive multilingualism

Thank you

23

|30-10-2012

References› Ammon, U. (2012a). Language policy in the European Union (EU). In Spolsky (ed.) Handbook of language policy. Cambridge: CUP.

› Ammon, U. (2012b). Linguistic inequality and its effects on participation in scientific discourse and on global knowledge accumulation–With a closer look at the problems of the second-rank language communities. Applied Linguistics Review, 3(2), 333-355.

› Grin, François, and François Vaillancourt. "The economics of multilingualism: Overview and analytical framework." Annual review of applied linguistics 17 (1997): 43-65.

› Grin, F. (2005) L'enseignement des langues étrangères comme politique publique. HAUT C ONSEIL DE L ’ÉVALUATION DE L ÉCOLE

› Gooskens, C. (2007) The contribution of linguistic factors to the intelligibility of closely related languages. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 28 (6), 445-467.

› Haarmann, H., & Holman, E. (2001). The impact of English as a language of science in Finland and its role for the transition to network society. In Ammon , U.(Ed.) The Dominance of English as a Language of Science CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE SOCIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE, 84, 229-260.

› Nelde, P. H., Labrie, N. and Williams, C. H. 1992. The principles of territoriality and personality in the solution of linguistic conflicts. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 13(5): 387–406

› Kelly, M. (2013) Language competences for employability, mobility and growth. European Journal of Language Policy 5

› Labov, W. (2001). Principles of linguistic change, II: social factors. Massachusetts: Blackwell.

› Lauridsen, K. M. (2013), Higher education language policy: report of the CEL/ELC Working Group. European Journal of Language Policy 5 128-138

› Linn, A., & Oakes, L. (2007). Language policies for a global era: the changing face of language politics in Scandinavia. Standard, Variation and Language Change in the Germanic Languages. Tübingen: Narr.

› Rehm, G., & Uszkoreit, H. (2013). META-NET Strategic Research Agenda for Multilingual Europe 2020. Springer Publishing Company, Incorporated

› Ribbert, A., & Ten Thije, J. D. (2007). Receptive multilingualism in Dutch-German intercultural team cooperation. Receptive multilingualism: Linguistic analyses, language policies and didactic concepts, 73-103.

› Robichaud, D., & De Schutter, H. (2012). Language is just a tool! On the instrumentalist approach to language. In Spolsky (ed.) Cambridge Handbook on Language Policy. Cambridge: CUP.

› Swaan, A. de, Endangered languages, sociolinguistics, and linguistic sentimentalism, European Review, 12. 4, October 2004, pp. 567-580.

› Ruijven, E. C. M., & Ytsma, J. (2008). Trijetalige Skoalle yn Fryslân. Fryske Akademy.

› Verschik, A. (2012). Practising receptive multilingualism: Estonian–Finnish communication in Tallinn. International Journal of Bilingualism

24